All Time

Monday, February 9, 2015

That Thing Called Tadhana

♣♣♣♣♣/♣♣♣♣♣

Where
do broken hearts go, can they find their way home? Perhaps the better question
is do they have enough baggage allowance to even board the plane. Mace
(Angelica Panganiban) struggles to get rid of all the extra weight preventing
her from getting on her plane back to Manila from Rome. Good Samaritan Anthony (JM de Guzman) offers to help, a gesture which serves as the beginning
of an unlikely friendship between the two. She has just broken up with her boyfriend
of eight years, while he has just posthumously fulfilled his mother’s wish for them to visit the Coliseum. But she just could not move on from the pain of a
broken heart. What starts as a melodramatic One
More Chance marathon on the plane extends to an impromptu lunch date in a
Japanese restaurant, until she manages to convince him to go through the whole
process of moving on with her: belting it all out at a Karaoke bar, traveling
to Baguio, and eventually ending up finding herself in Sagada. He begins to fall forher, but could mere
attraction really turn into something palpable for two people who have just met?

A
lot of good things have already been said about this movie, thanks in part to the
cult following it has gained through its limited release last year. That the
mainstream audience actually ended up seeing this in droves and raving about it
on social media is quite a bit of a surprise, taking into consideration the
fact that this is not our typical rom-com, and does its best to veer away from
the formulaic path mainstream breakup movies tend to follow.

You see, in the Philippines,
it is not usually a good rom-com if it is not directed by Cathy Garcia-Molina,
does not have a support cast of best friends whose only task in life is to
comment on the dilemma faced by the lead characters, and does not have the
gimmicky script which makes everything seem distant and unreal. That Thing
Called Tadhana avoids all that, and still succeeds despite not being formulaic.

Perhaps
it has something to do with the conversations that Mace and Anthony share, as
well as their constant movement from one place to another. Could you really go
wrong with a witty screenplay and breathtaking cinematography that just begs
you to look and not take your eyes of the screen? You see what I did there? In
reality, people will argue that they are watching this because they could
relate. Besides, is there any other life experience apart from breaking up to
which people would most likely readily relate? The thing is, that is probably
just what they think they liked about the movie, but what truly beckons you to
watch and listen for an hour and a half is the straightforwardness of it all.

There
has been a shift of appreciation lately towards strong, feisty and to some
extent, crass leading women who are not afraid to speak their minds and spew
profanity more than a potty-mouthed sailor could ever wish he could. But
beneath all the colorful dialogue, it is probably the no nonsense truth delivered
with such panache that gets you as a moviegoer. This is, after all, an indie
film.

The producers are not constrained by the burden of protecting their
matinee idols’ image, which results in a more natural and free flowing
discussion of certain realities in life, an experience that one too many
individuals could have already gone through. When you hear Mace
punctuate every rant with vulgarity, or Anthony refuse to sugarcoat the truth,
you do not see Panganiban or de Guzman anymore, but rather one of the many
brokenhearted friends or frank BFFs that you actually do have in your everyday reality.

This
is probably Panganiban’s genuine
performance to date, and the awards she has already
won and yet to win already speak volumes. Often associated with daring as well
as “bida-kontrabida” roles, it is surprisingly pleasant to see her tackle a
character basking in her very own vulnerability, without a single attempt to be
either larger than life or iconic. As for de Guzman, he gets to use his character’s silent
demeanor to his advantage, offering a not so attention-grabbing portrayal, yet
poignant when needed be.

This
film is not perfect, and the high rating is merely indicative of the satisfaction you can derive from the whole experience. This is, so far, one of the
more enjoyable movies you would see this year. And yes, you might end up
playing Whitney Houston’s Where Do Broken Hearts Go over and over again on YouTube when
you get home. You have been warned.